A federal judge on Friday dealt erstwhile bedding titan and stalwart election denialist Mike Lindell a significant loss in a defamation lawsuit filed by voting software and hardware company Smartmatic Corp .
In a 63-page order , U.S. District Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan, a Joe Biden appointee, found Lindell made several defamatory statements about Smartmatic and its voting machines in 2020 and 2021.
The parties spent years in motions practice – jockeying for legal position and essaying various theories of liability and defense.
Now, ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment, the judge decidedly ruled in the plaintiffs' favor – leaving only some ancillary-but-necessary issues and the defendants' liability up to a civil jury.
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